Never Too Old to be Homesick

Howdy Y'all!

Any time I am ever asked, "Where are you from?" - my answer is always the same, "I am from Texas, but I live in Arkansas."  I have lived in Arkansas for 12 years and I still don't consider it "home".  I always miss home, but after spending almost half of July in Texas, I sure miss it a lot.

This blog post may be old news since we are now in August, but I thought I would share some of our Texas fun and why we miss that place so much.

We started out our stay in Dallas staying with my in-laws and Harper got to see a few of her cousins that she hasn't seen since she was about a week old.  It took her a few minutes to warm-up, but her and Anna Grace became fast friends.

We were supposed to leave Dallas and head to Waco to take some pictures with a baby zebra, but they got canceled for two reasons.  Harper woke up on Sunday morning and cried for a couple of hours and we took her to urgent care.  She was diagnosed with strep throat.  :(  So, Harper couldn't do the pictures, and then it stormed in the Waco area and the other girls couldn't do pictures either because of the ground conditions.  The pictures have been rescheduled and we just can't wait!

The doctor told us that Harper would no longer be contagious once she was fever free and on her medicine for 24 hours...so at the 24 hour mark, we headed over to The American Girl Store to meet up with the rest of my family.  Mom bought her two littlest granddaughters a doll...they are so spoiled.  Ava and Harper had the BEST time in the store.

We then headed to Grapevine and checked into the Great Wolf Lodge for the night.  It was a great place - indoor water park, outdoor swimming, Build a Bear (or should I say Wolf), Story Time, Clock Tower Show and breakfast with the characters.  Harper was a bit apprehensive at first, but then just absolutely loved it.  Her favorite thing was the slide!

On Wednesday, we headed to the Ft. Worth Zoo and it was HOT, but the we all had a blast.  Unfortunately, we were probably all stinky in the cars on the way back home.  The girls spent a lot of time with the gorillas - I am so glad Harper loved them because they are always my favorite thing at the zoo.

We spent the entire next day with my college roommate, Rebecca and her daughter Kenley.  The girls had a great time playing hide and seek in the curtains, feeding the goats, going on magic carpet rides and kissing on each other.  I hope they grow up being BFF's.

We got up early on Friday and headed to Huntsville - it had been awhile (a long while) since I have visited my alma mater, Sam Houston State University.  And, dang it, I forgot my camera that day!  :(  We were driving up to the campus and randomly found one of my favorite people of all time - Dean Parker.  When I was in school there, I would call him Mr. Dean Parker...and no, his first name was not Dean, it was Frank.  :)  Now, he is a Vice President there so I guess I should drop the "Dean" part.  My dad, Harper and I had lunch with him and it was great catching up.  On the way home, we stopped by Buc-cees...an amazing place...and oh so busy...and we brought home a couple of bags of Beaver Nuggets.  Yummy!

We did take a few pics of the cute cousins when we got back home and some of them turned out so cute.  And, we were able to sneak in a few magic carpet rides with PaPaw too.

The day wasn't done though - after spending an hour at home, it was time for Harper and I to get back in the car and head to Tyler.  For lunch, we spent time with an old friend and for dinner we were meeting a brand new one.  As we were going through our adoption, my high school friend, Jennifer, hooked me up (on facebook) with Sara.  Sara and her husband were also trying to adopt and it was so great following her story.  We finally got to meet and it was like we were old friends.  Jacob, her son, and Harper were cute to watch too - we will have to do it again sometime soon.  Again, no pictures...dang it!

On Saturday, we saw a lot of family.  We started the afternoon by visiting my Aunt JoAnne and Uncle David and Harper loved playing ball with her great uncle David.  Then, lots of family came to my parents house and it was a great end to a busy, busy week.

And, our 9 day visit to Texas came to an end on Sunday, but not without meeting my friend Julie for lunch.  It was supposed to be a quiet week at home and it ended up being a jammed packed week full of family and friends.  And, this week made me miss home a lot.  :(

However, just a short 5 days later, I was in an airplane making my way back to Texas for a little girl time.  I flew to Austin and met my college roommate, Rebecca, and several of her friends for a fun filled weekend at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop.  We spent a lot of time at the pool and in the lazy river, but we spent more time laughing, gabbing and singing the Kellerman's theme song from Dirty Dancing.  The resort was amazing - I am ready to go back!

We are heading back to Texas soon so maybe I can get over being homesick or maybe it will just make it worse.  I guess time will tell.

Toodles!